Has anybody had any experience using a Bank of America ATM card in London or Paris? I am having trouble finding out which ATMs are the best to use and what the transaction fee is(reachable bank staff is clueless). The B of A person I finally reached said 1% at ATMs and 3% on purchases--that 3% doesn%26#39;t make sense to me, also no answer on which ATMs were best to use. We%26#39;re leaving on Monday..................................
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I know what you are going through,these knuckle heads they have working for them,your best bet is to go into a local branch and talk to someone at the desk,not a teller.
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It doesnt matter - whatever machine you use, you will be charged something, and usually more than you expect.
Even if it is 3%, what are the odds? It makes the difference of about a cup of coffee a day.
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Bank of America has an agreement with BNP. You can use ATM%26#39;s at BNP Paribas banks free of charge in France.
Go to this page and look at the right.... it tells you to use Barclays in England. …infonow.net/locator/atmbranch/
Hope that helps.
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Not sure what to tell you about the ATM card, sorry I%26#39;m still looking into that myself. Your best bet is using a credit card for everything you don%26#39;t need cash for. I read an article on CNN.COM regarding this and did my own research as well. Get a capitial one credit card, a master card to be exact. I have a USAA credit card which charges 1% on all purchases and had a slightly higher exchange rate than getting a Master card through capitial one (they don%26#39;t charge any % on your purchases). I called I think 3 days ago, their master card exchange rate was 1.2622 $ for a Euro. Since you don%26#39;t have much time check to see what your credit card charges maybe it%26#39;s close.
Good luck
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I belong to Wescom Credit Union in California and I didn%26#39;t have any problems using my card in London, Barcelona or Paris. I used ATMs indiscriminantly and didn%26#39;t have a single problem, nor was I charged any fees, just the conversion rate. However, I didn%26#39;t use it for purchases, I used my United Mileage Plus card and was not charged a fee either.
My boyfriend banks with Washington Mutual and his card did not work at all. He placed a few calls to them and they said, from their point of view, that the card was fine and there wasn%26#39;t anything they could do for him, so he had to take cash out from his credit card. Just make sure to have some cash on hand if using your card becomes a problem.
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Having just recently returned from Europe, I used both Barclay-look for the blue sign in London and Paribas look for the green sign in Paris for no fee ATM withdrawls with my BofA ATM card. Everywhere else, I was charged 1% of the amount of cash. I%26#39;ve received my bank statement and have confirmed this. Both banks are all over the place in both cities.
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One of the reason%26#39;s it is hard to get a straight reply from the bank is that fees are constatnly changing. You get one card where you think there is no ATM fee and 6 months later they begin to charge a fee.
Some things to consider:
Before you go make sure you contact both the credit card company and your Bank (ATM card) to let them know what dates and which countries you will be travelling. Be sure to have the customer service numbers with you in Europe in case you have a problem. I had a problem with my credit card in Europe, but a phone call fixed it.
Second many European bank ATM%26#39;s will not work with 5 digit codes. If you have a 5 digit code get it changed to a 4 digit code.
Some ATM%26#39;s in Europe don%26#39;t have letters on the keys. If you know your code as letters, memorize it as numbers.
You probably will get dinged for some charges for using ATM%26#39;s. That is the reality of modern life. It is still better than the good old days when we had to bring a mountain of travelers checks to Europe, and constantly struggled with trying to find a business that would take them.
When you travel someone is always hitting you up for %26quot;a little more than you thought it would be%26quot;.........
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Thanks to all who replied--I think I%26#39;ve got it worked out now, Merci!!
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I am not sure what BA charges. It seems to depend on who you talk to at the bank or on this forum. Some say there are no charges, others pay a %age and/or a flat fee. We were charged $5.00 for each withdrawal of money with our ATM and we used the banks that partner with BA. We purchased train tickets, ferry tickets, and balloon ride tickets on-line before we left and used our BA Visa and were charged 3%. We did not use that card while we were in France because of that 3% fee. We used a teacher%26#39;s credit union credit card and were only charged the 1% conversion fee for our purchases. It seems to be what some would call a crap shoot.
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User %26quot;Scolob%26quot; is correct. To avoid transaction fees, use your Bank of America ATM card *only* at the following institutions:
Barclays (United Kingdom)
BNP Paribas (France)
China Construction Bank (China)
Deutsche Bank (Germany)
Santander Serfin (Mexico)
Scotiabank (Canada)
Westpac (Australia and New Zealand)
Do not use your Bank of America ATM card as a credit card, or you will be charged 3%. In fact, most credit cards will charge you 1-3% in one form or another (sometimes waiting several days after the transaction to post the transaction fee).
It is best to pay with cash obtained through your Bank of America ATM card at one of the institutions listed above. This way you will avoid being charged any transaction fee.
To make larger purchases, call Bank of America in advance to have them increase your ATM withdrawal cash limit. The default limit is on the order of $500 per day. At a Barclays%26#39; ATM in London the limit was 240 pounds sterling.
Exchange bureaus like American Express or even Bank of America%26#39;s own foreign exchange unit will charge fees on the order of 5-12% depending on the amount of foreign currency you buy. Please do not feed these sharks. Just use your Bank of America ATM card at one of the institutions listed above (Barclays, BNP, etc) and you%26#39;ll pay 0%.
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